The invention relates to a lighting arrangement, particularly for motor vehicle interiors.
In conventional, series-produced motor vehicles the interior light is generally switched on when a door is opened. By actuating the door contact, the interior light goes out when the door is closed. If interior lighting is required in the motor vehicle even if the door is closed, such light must be manually switched on and also off again. However, such a procedure is generally rather complicated since the switches are usually disposed at an unfavorable location in the motor vehicle and must often be groped for in the dark. This groping for the light switch is usually performed only after futile attempts at starting the motor vehicle or at performing other manupulations in the dark. This often brings about annoyance.
A further inconvenience is encountered in connection with conventional motor vehicle interior lighting arrangements when leaving the vehicle in the dark, for example in an unlighted garage. In this connection, it is likewise very annoying that, after closing of the door, no further light emanates from the motor vehicle so that finding the key hole to lock the car or finding the way to leave the car is rather laborious. As an aid for this problem, small flashlights attached to a key ring or the like have been offered on the market.
To meet this genuine desire for a differently acting interior lighting system for a motor vehicle, an interior lighting arrangement for motor vehicles has become known which continues to operate for a few seconds even after the door has been closed. However, after, for example, 10 to 20 seconds, this light switches off abruptly and all necessary measures must have been taken during this time.
The drawback in such a system is the abrupt switch-off whose impending occurrence can be estimated only with difficulty and which usually catches the user by surprise.